OCBA UPDATE: Thanks for the memories

By Judith K. Cunningham In late April the OCBA's Legislative Committee hosted our biennial Legislative Day in Lansing. This is a day-long event planned in conjunction with the OCBA's lobbyist, Sandi Jones of Muchmore Harrington Smalley & Associates, at which bar leaders, committee chairs and liaisons to our Legislative Committee make the rounds of the Oakland County delegation and other state senators and representatives who chair key committees impacting the legal community and our substantive practice areas. Because Legislative Day is such a monumental planning and execution effort, it prompted my thoughts for my final column. I continue to be amazed, appreciative and so very grateful to the hundreds of lawyers and staff who contribute their time and talents to our bar. So much goes on behind the scenes that I wanted to take this opportunity to publicly recognize and thank many of you for your efforts, your generosity and your dedication to the OCBA. Let me start with our Legislative Committee, co-chaired by Rich Poling and OCBA Past President Sheldon Larky. They are what I affectionately refer to as "political junkies"; both have given countless hours tracking, reviewing, analyzing and commenting on legislation of concern to our members. Thanks to them as well as the other OCBA members who joined us for Legislative Day in Lansing: Jim Derian, Michael Lee, Keefe Brooks, Kaveh Kashef, Bill Booth, Steve Galbraith, Bill Pierson, David Nykanen and Jim Houlihan. For this and many other reasons the Legislative Committee is one of two committees to be named Committee of the Year at our annual meeting this month. The New Lawyers Committee is our other award recipient. Thanks to the NLC, the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Oakland County has been the beneficiary of fundraising events and has partnered with the OCBA in community projects. Thank you to the OCBA board of directors, and especially to our executive board - Jim Derian, Tom Howlett, David Carl Anderson and David C. Anderson - for your unflagging loyalty and support for my year as OCBA president. It's been a treat to get to know all of you and to share so much of our professional and personal lives. A huge thank you to all of our committee chairs and vice-chairs for your steadfast efforts, resolve and management of much of the work of our bar and the progress we make from one year to the next. A special thank you to our committees, whose efforts reach well beyond the legal community. Here I refer to our PALS Committee who, in collaboration with Oakland County Youth Assistance, the D. Augustus Straker Bar and legal aid providers, host legal aid mini clinics in locations throughout the county as well as Seniors' Law Day programs in Waterford, Farmington Hills and Birmingham. My thanks to the many attorneys and staff who volunteer for these important community programs that shine such a positive light on lawyers in general and the OCBA in particular. And what about our Veterans Committee's efforts that reach well beyond our borders? This year's committee, chaired by Past President Elias J. Escobedo, and its Afghan-Iraq Pack effort, led by Past President Michael Schloff and committee member Kristina Derro, collected almost $55,000 in cash and donations. A number of law firms, parishes, student groups and the Road Commission for Oakland County spearheaded collections to support this project. Many thanks to all who donated and volunteered. Speaking of past presidents, let me also thank the former OCBA and OCBF presidents and other attorneys who supported this first year of our Law Student Incubator project by sponsoring a second-year student as an OCBA member and serving as a resource and occasional mentor for these future lawyers. Who knows - we may have an OCBA leader in this first incubator group. In any case, this program amply demonstrated that our past presidents remain vital to the success of our programs. They continue to give generously of their time and talents. A heartfelt thank you to my former staff in the Office of Corporation Counsel at Oakland County and especially to my friend and colleague Keith J. Lerminiaux, who succeeds me as counsel for the county. Congratulations, Keith, and thank you for your unwavering support and loyalty. Who can mention Oakland County government without also saying a big thanks to County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who supported my year as OCBA president in innumerable ways. Our county is blessed to have a leader of Brooks's talent, political acumen, quick wit and amazing intelligence - and he's a lawyer and OCBA member too! This year concludes our three-year strategic planning effort begun in early 2010, and later this month we will begin the process of looking ahead and planning for the next chapter in the OCBA's story. My thanks to our board members who headed up these planning committees: (1) Maureen McGinnis: Provide valuable services to lawyers practicing in the current economic climate. (2) Anne Cole-Pierce: Encourage active participation of OCBA members to foster a sense of community and to promote networking and exchange among lawyers and judges. (3) David Carl Anderson: Play a recognized role in serving the Oakland County community. Our executive board was tasked with ensuring that our resources are used effectively and efficiently. One of the outcomes here was a work group I appointed to revamp the OCBA's website. My thanks to Tom Howlett, Bradley Benn, Karen Safran and Barry Malone for their efforts to move our website forward. I don't want to forget to say thank you to our generous sponsors of many events, and in particular a special acknowledgement of Stout Risius Ross and our liaison from that firm, Mick Kahaian, whose generosity and support have been phenomenal. I would also like to give a special thank you to Tom Kirvan and Suzanne Favale at Oakland County Legal News and John Alfonsi at Cendrowski Corporate Advisors, whose support enables us to do so many things that we otherwise wouldn't be able to do. Thank you to the many attorneys I heard from offering feedback and commenting on my President's Page this year. I heard from many of you and appreciated not only that someone was reading my column but also that you took the time to send an e-mail or a note or to call me. And very close to home, thanks to my son, Jacob, who reviewed several of my columns and offered thoughtful revisions. Jake is my harshest critic and also the biggest supporter of my OCBA activities. I save the best and biggest "thank you" to Executive Director Lisa Stadig Elliot and Jan Anson and their exemplary staff at the OCBA. Having served on the board of directors since 2004, I knew that Lisa and her crew accomplished herculean tasks with very conservative resources. But I became much more acutely aware of these efforts this past year. Thank you Lisa for being my sounding board; for your sage advice; for keeping our board on track, on target and focused on our mission; and for your energy, enthusiasm, lovely laughter and unfailing dedication. The OCBA is recognized both in Michigan and nationally as a leader among voluntary bars, and it's to Lisa's credit that we have attained this stature. We are grateful and somewhat in awe of Lisa's leadership and management abilities. Every OCBA president Lisa has worked with can attest to this, and we are all better off for having had the opportunity to serve with her. Later this month I will join the ranks of past presidents, a role to which I look forward. But I'll miss "talking" to you in these columns. As my tenure as president comes to an end, let me share that I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to meet so many of you and work with you. Thank you for allowing me to serve you. Fondly, Judy ------------ Judith K. Cunningham is the 80th president of the Oakland County Bar Association. Published: Wed, Jun 19, 2013

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